July 22, 2008
Petit shuts down Cubs in 9-2 Diamondbacks' rout
PHOENIX (AP) -Yusmeiro Petit didn't find out until Monday that he'd be Arizona's starting pitcher on Tuesday night.
The short notice didn't diminish his effectiveness in five innings against sputtering Chicago, and the Diamondbacks made it two in a row over the Cubs with a 9-2 romp.
Conor Jackson drove in three runs with a solo homer and two-run double. Orlando Hudson added a solo shot for Arizona before leaving the game after being hit by a pitch in the eighth.
Jackson's shot off starter Jason Marquis in the first put Arizona up 1-0, and his sliding score from second on Mark Reynolds' single put the Diamondbacks ahead 2-0 in the third. Stephen Drew doubled in the Diamondbacks' third run in the fourth.
The Diamondbacks added two off left-hander Sean Marshall in the seventh. Drew beat out a double play, advanced to third, then scored on a wild pitch. Hudson followed with his first homer since June 10 - 135 at bats.
But after Jackson's bases-loaded double in Arizona's four-run eighth, reliever Kevin Hart hit Hudson in the right ankle, sending the Diamondbacks' second baseman to the ground in pain. Hudson had to be helped from the field.
''He's all right,'' a relieved manager Bob Melvin said. ''We took x-rays, no fracture, no crack. It's above the foot, kind of lower ankle on the side. It smarted, so we'll see if he's able to play tomorrow.''
Three Cubs' errors in the last two innings helped Arizona turn it into a rout.
Chicago's Daryle Ward hit his 10th career pinch-hit homer, off Tony Pena in the eighth.
The Cubs have lost five of six and scored no more than two runs in each of those losses. They are 1-4 since the All-Star break.
''Sometimes your luck is just not there,'' Ward said. ''Maybe we need some holy water or something. I don't know.''
Chicago's three, four and five hitters - Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Jim Edmonds - were a combined 0-for-10.
''It's only July. I don't see where you should be pressing,'' Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. ''We're just not hitting with men on base, and when the middle part of your lineup's not driving in runs, it becomes a little bit of a scuffle. That's exactly what's happened.''
Piniella looked forward to the return of Alfonso Soriano (broken finger), who made a rehab appearance for Triple-A Tucson on Tuesday. He also hopes to get reliever Kerry Wood back soon, too.
''Nobody's feeling sorry for us,'' Piniella said, ''so we're just going to have to just play our way out of this thing.''
The victory clinched the series and brought Arizona back to .500 (50-50). With Los Angeles losing 10-1 at Colorado, the Diamondbacks have a one-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West. The Cubs, still with the NL's best record at 58-42, are just one game up on Milwaukee in the NL Central after the Brewers won at St. Louis 4-3.
Arizona newcomer Jon Rauch, acquired earlier in the day in a trade with Washington, pitched a scoreless ninth.
Petit (1-1) gave up a run on three in five innings, striking out three and walking four. He's filling a spot starter role and got the nod after Melvin used Micah Owings in relief in Arizona's 2-0 victory on Monday.
''Phenomenal,'' Jackson said. ''For him to come in and do that on short notice. When was his last start? It's a phenomenal job, especially against an offense like that. You never feel three, four, five, six, seven, eight runs is enough against those guys because they can strike back at any time.''
It was Petit's second big-league start of the season. He gave up a run in six innings against Milwaukee on July 2. He has nine relief appearances.
Marquis (6-6) allowed three runs on five hits with three strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter. He is a hard-luck 0-3 in his last four starts.
The Cubs ended a 12-inning scoring drought against Arizona in the fourth. Petit walked DeRosa, then with two outs Mike Fontenot tripled.
2008 NL Central Standings
(through July 22)
TEAM W L PCT GB HOME ROAD DIV STREAK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Cubs 58 42 .580 --- 37-12 21-30 23-19 Lost 2
Milwaukee 57 43 .570 1 31-17 26-26 25-16 Won 6
St. Louis 57 45 .559 2 30-23 27-22 25-22 Lost 2
Cincinnati 49 53 .480 10 29-22 20-31 14-21 Won 1
Pittsburgh 46 54 .460 12 29-22 17-32 22-25 Won 2
Houston 46 54 .460 12 24-24 22-30 17-23 Lost 3
2008 Cubs' Stats (through July 22)
BATTERS BA SLG OBA G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoffpauir .378 .541 .410 19 37 8 14 20 6 0 0 1 1 14 1 0 1
Theriot .328 .383 .402 92 366 53 120 140 15 1 1 27 44 33 15 9 11
Lee .298 .491 .362 99 403 64 120 198 27 3 15 59 42 69 5 2 8
Blanco .286 .333 .328 32 63 8 18 21 0 0 1 5 4 14 0 0 1
Soriano .283 .547 .332 51 212 36 60 116 11 0 15 40 15 46 7 1 2
Fukudome .279 .407 .380 95 344 61 96 140 19 2 7 36 56 73 8 4 1
DeRosa .279 .446 .372 94 323 59 90 144 17 2 11 50 45 75 3 0 7
Fontenot .276 .532 .369 76 156 32 43 83 14 1 8 25 21 32 2 0 1
Soto .275 .496 .353 93 335 38 92 166 24 1 16 56 42 87 0 0 4
Johnson .271 .376 .340 65 210 35 57 79 13 0 3 32 14 37 4 4 1
Ramirez .269 .486 .369 93 346 59 93 168 22 1 17 66 48 63 1 1 8
Ward .268 .464 .379 49 56 3 15 26 5 0 2 9 10 12 0 0 0
Cedeno .267 .348 .336 59 135 21 36 47 8 0 1 20 13 27 3 1 4
Edmonds .237 .432 .331 74 236 26 56 102 11 1 11 37 33 55 2 1 4
Pie .222 .286 .286 30 63 4 14 18 1 0 1 7 4 23 2 0 0
PITCHERS W- L ERA BA G GS CG GF SH SV IP H R ER HR BB SO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harden 5- 2 2.12 .197 15 15 0 0 0 0 89.1 63 22 21 6 36 112
Cotts 0- 1 2.65 .238 25 0 0 4 0 0 17.0 15 5 5 3 9 23
Zambrano 10- 4 2.98 .244 19 19 0 0 0 0 126.2 116 44 42 8 44 81
Wood 4- 2 3.02 .201 44 0 0 38 0 24 44.2 32 15 15 1 13 55
Dempster 11- 4 3.05 .211 21 21 1 0 0 0 132.2 103 52 45 11 51 111
Gaudin 5- 3 3.38 .251 31 6 0 11 0 0 69.1 66 30 26 7 17 48
Lieber 2- 3 3.43 .303 25 1 0 7 0 0 44.2 56 20 17 9 5 26
Wuertz 1- 1 3.55 .269 37 0 0 11 0 0 38.0 39 20 15 4 15 25
Marmol 2- 3 4.05 .158 50 0 0 9 0 3 53.1 29 25 24 7 25 70
Hill 1- 0 4.12 .191 5 5 0 0 0 0 19.2 13 9 9 2 18 15
Marshall 2- 2 4.34 .257 18 3 0 3 0 1 29.0 29 14 14 6 10 23
Marquis 6- 6 4.44 .267 18 18 0 0 0 0 105.1 108 55 52 9 41 56
Lilly 9- 6 4.49 .250 21 21 0 0 0 0 122.1 120 64 61 22 43 114
Howry 3- 3 4.75 .298 47 0 0 18 0 1 47.1 57 27 25 7 7 35
Eyre 2- 0 4.91 .286 18 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 12 6 6 1 4 14
C. Fox 0- 1 5.40 .200 3 0 0 1 0 0 3.1 2 2 2 1 3 1
Hart 2- 1 7.91 .322 14 0 0 3 0 0 19.1 28 21 17 2 16 14
Ascanio 0- 0 7.94 .348 6 0 0 1 0 0 5.2 8 5 5 1 4 3
Pignatiello 0- 0 13.50 .500 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 2 1 1 0 2 0
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/ revised July 23, 2008.
